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Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders
by Gyles Brandreth

Published by Touchstone 2011
Simon & Schuster
Price US $15 CAN $17

Have you been looking for a new "guilty pleasure"? I would suggest this series of Oscar Wilde murder mysteries by Brandreth. He has managed to bring the style and format of Conan-Doyle's Holmes mixed with the structure and set up of Bram Stoker's work of Dracula. If you feel your heart rate speed up when you read Victorian mystery "turn of the century" England, this one is for you.

Brandreth tantalizes the reader with the clip-clop of horse hooves on cobblestones, a creeping fog, opium dens, and characters of high class and even royalty who have a taste for the vulgar and the dangerously seductive!

In this book we find Oscar Wilde accompanied by his friends Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker and journalist Robert Sherard as they investigate the first of several suspicious deaths at the request of HRH the Prince of Wales. These three men are joined by Oscar's new beautiful friend Rex LaSalle an artist and self professed 'vampire'!

This book was organized as if it is a "case file" and the chapters are copies of the correspondences and writings of the people involved exactly like Stoker did with Dracula ... I personally enjoyed this little quirky presentation. The story starts off with these distinguished gentlemen attending a ball at the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Albemarle.

Fascinating and bizarre, even bohemian, guests are struck silent when the mutilated nude body of the Duchess is discovered ... HRH secretly seeks these men out to find this killer and stop him. They race against the clock and travel between London and Paris and exhaust all their resources even as the murders continue, sometimes only feet away! Who could possibly commit these monstrous murders almost in the presence of the world's greatest detectives and yet escape as if he were merely a phantom!

As usual, I remind our MN members that this is a family friendly site so I just want to point out that there are a few references to some of Oscar Wilde's wicked ways. It is handled discreetly and is only briefly commented on. The writing style of Brandreth makes this such an easy, flowing, intelligent read that I would recommend this as a good Summer travel book. This is the first of the series for me to read but actually it is the 4th in his series. Gyles has wisely written these mesmerizing stories so that each one stands on its on so it won't matter which one you read first or second.

If you are a member of a bookclub OR you would like to try one, then I highly recommend this series of the Oscar Wilde murder mysteries. Brandreth very wisely has added a section at the end of each book that does the worksheets and questions for you. All you and your friends need do is read the book and gather for the discussion and good eats and friends. Try to organize a BookClub!

About the Author:
Gyles Brandreth is a bestselling author, broadcaster, entertainer, former MP and British government minister. He is most known for his Wilde series but he has gotten praise for his 2 royal biographies "Philip & Elizabeth" and Charles & Camilla".

Lasso - 05:13am Aug 24, 2012 PST(#1 of 1)
If growing up is the process of creating ideas and dreams about what life should be, then maturity is letting go again.